Lancaster

Description: Lancaster County is home to one of the largest groups of the Amish denomination. The name is derived from its founder Jakob Ammann (1644-1730). Today, the denomination is divided into many subgroups, each of which has different rules for its followers. Many of the groups reject motorization, for example, because cars are an unnecessary status symbol. Transportation is mostly by horse-drawn vehicles and carriages. The Amish do not live in their own self-contained settlements, but usually have American neighbors. 

Our rating: Driving through Lancaster County, carriages and members of the faith community, in their typically simple clothing, are part of the street scene. It's almost as if you've been transported to another time. You can imagine that people don't appreciate being observed and photographed like animals in a zoo. We stuck to it and only took a few photos of the horse-drawn carriages.